around here

k started pre-k

p got her first black eye

working on etsy things

finishing my halloween quilt from last year

couldn't resist buying this halloween owl today.

if you don't think this is the cutest deco ever, you don't have a soul.

the end.

home tour: the boy's room

so the next stop on our home tour is the boy's room. 

if you read my blog at all, you know that his favorite color in the world is orange.

i was NOT about to paint the whole room orange. blue was the next choice.

i tried to add a lot of color for his personality.

his room is at the very top of the stairs and the first room you 

see when you come up.

the garland is made out of card stock and fishing wire.
the idea was from cluck cluck sew.

i made kavi's quilt quite a while ago and he still loves it thankfully.

these canvases were all kind of made at different times.
the top left 3 are made out of felt and the others,
i recently made using my friend's silhouette machine.
i think i might need like one more up there.

kavi loves to hang his art up in his room (or any place in the house for that matter) 

so i finally put together a little corner for him to display it. i grabbed this thrift store frame for

 like 6 bucks and sprayed it orange.

the K above his bed was super time consuming, but well-worth it. 

i purchased it at joannes and wound red yarn around all the sides. the nooks and 

crannies of the letter were pretty difficult to cover, but it turned out okay.

that's about it for the boy's room. 

oh, but i couldn't leave out these few shots of the little sister getting into his toys...

... and steeling his spotlight. so sweet baby carter girl!

the boy turns 5

here's the birthday boy and a couple of his favorite friends.

 we took things very simple this year and just had a BBQ with good friends in our backyard.

 nothing fancy. the boy played and played as all the kids ran around the backyard, 

jumped on the tramp and just had fun. then we did cupcakes:

sang happy birthday:

no birthday BBQ would be complete without a pinata. i missed pictures of that, but got a great one of adam putting it on his head and jessica getting all up on that! love those neighbors of ours:)

and of course presents from all his friends:

it was a great way to celebrate and very low key. 

kavi also got some great cards and gifts from his grandparents and lots of calls from

 his cousins. the boy felt loved for sure.

and oh man, do i love this boy. his creativeness and imagination continues to crack me up. and his sweetness is just so tender. he tells me he loves multiple times a day and is always willing to cuddle me and give me kisses. he recently started pre-K and just soaks up everything. he LOVES to learn and interact with other people. and i love to see him just grow and learn. he's my favorite boy:)

happy birthday bud!

chevron curtains- a tutorial

okay, so do you remember this post about my new curtains that i absolutely adore? well i promised a tutorial and that was like 3 months ago. i basically suck, i know. here it is nevertheless. this project definitely take patience and persistence, but the end result is SO worth. the money you save, and the drama these curtains bring to a room is amazing. 

you'll need:

drop cloth

painters tape

ruler

 about a quart of black paint (or whatever color you choose)

small sponge roller

hanging curtain clips

i started with a huge drop cloth from home depot. i wanted my curtains to brush the ground,

 so i bought the 9x12 size.

lay your drop cloth out. you'll need a big space where kids can't get in the way. don't forget to put a tarp or something underneath when you paint, bc the paint will go through. don't cut your drop cloth yet, you'll do that after we're all done painting.

now you need to figure out your measurements. this was the most difficult part and i made my husband help with the math and stuff. here's a rough sketch of how i did mine. if you want bigger or smaller chevrons, you'll have to adjust.

 i started a foot in from the left and 5 inches down from the top. mark a dot. mark another dot another foot in from the first one and 5 inches from the top, and so on till you reach the other side. these make up the points of the top chevron.

for the dip of the chevron i did 6 inches in and 11.5 inches down.

then for the bottom part of the chevron, i marked my dots just 6 inches below the top ones for the point and the dip. did i confuse you yet?

 after you have all your dots measured and penciled, you can start taping. to make a perfectly pointed edge with painters tape, look at these next two pictures. hold a straight edge over your tape at the angle you want your edge and rip the tape towards you. works every time.

 after tons of patient work and hopefully a helpful partner, you'll get something that looks like this. 

(i know it looks like my "white" chevrons are smaller than the black ones will be, but it's 

just an illusion bc of the edges of the tape.)

 now is when the fun part comes in. i used flat interior paint and bought a cheap small sponge roller.

just roll that bad boy on like there's no tomorrow.

and keep rolling and rolling. you'll have to put it on pretty thick for it not to look blotchy.

once it's dried, you can cut it as you like for whatever window you're using it on. i cut mine straight down the middle and trimmed some off the bottom once i hung them. i also left he edges raw, but you can choose to hem them. 

attach your curtain ring clips and your done! $30 vs $150? 

yes please! 

i hope someone finds this tutorial helpful. and if you choose to do them, please send pics! 

good luck fellow dyi-ers!

wedding events

i just realized that i started to write this post way back in june, but never published it.

silly me, because this was the event of my year.

kelly's wedding was june 11 and flying to california was so much fun. 

did i mention that i was childless?

rehearsal dinner

the beautiful bride getting ready

4 of the 6 bridesmaids

moments before the ceremony

she was seriously glowing!

her dad walked out just before he walked her down the aisle and i about lost it. he was blown away by her beauty and got so teary eyed. it was one of my favorite moment's of the whole trip.

she was so stunning! i feel so lucky to have been one of her bridesmaids.

high school friends

yeah, i pretty much ruled that dance floor. it was so much fun to let loose and dance like crazy.

 i don't think i've done that since high school and it was a blast.

overall, the weekend was amazing. ceremony, beautiful. 

reception, gorgeous and fun. catching up with old friends, fantastic. 

being with kelly the whole weekend, priceless.

 i'm so incredibly happy for her and buddy.

thanks for letting me be apart of your beautiful day!

to see her fabulous  wedding photos, look here.

titus

david's sister had her 6th baby last month. 6th!!!! she's pretty amazing when it comes to pushing out those babies. i was privileged to watch her last birth and it was so beautiful. she likes to go au-natural with no epidural and her strength was awe-inspiring.  

so this quilt is for newborn TITUS. it's so similar to this one, but i just couldn't help but replicate it.

it's so precious to me.

quilting with my machine hasn't worked so well in the past, but the 3rd time is a charm, right? i quilted straight lines using this method and pretty much loved it. i still like a more meandering quilted look, but straight lines have their place too. plus, it saved me like 50 bucks. 

some of the fabrics:

green cufflink

dark gray dot

light gray dot

aqua dot

kelly green circles